Page 139

It’s natural that I want to guard my heart. But I don’t want to do that if it means closing myself off to love.

I trust you. See you at 12. – Georgia

I can’t tell you how much those three words mean to me. Thank you. – Theo

Manhattan is back to its normally frantic ways when I walk out of the subway right before noon. I push through the crowds of workers and into the huge glass doors of the skyscraper on West 38th Street, my eyes drawn to the blown-up magazine covers that line the walls behind the reception desk.

And then I see Theo, in a suit and tie, waiting for me at the end of the counter. Next to him is a gray-haired man with a briefcase in his hands.

“Hi.” Theo’s smile is big. “Thank you for coming.” He kisses my cheek and I feel it right to the tips of my toes. He smells of sandalwood and spice, the aroma so familiar it makes me want to sigh.

“How could I resist? I’m a sucker for a mystery,” I tell him.

“It won’t be a mystery for much longer.” He looks at the man next to him. “Georgia, this is Daniel Ray. The head of the Hunt legal team over here.”

He has a legal team here? I lift a brow. “Nice to meet you,” I say, shaking Daniel’s hand.

“Miss Ingram,” he says. “It’s a pleasure.

The security guard hands me a visitor’s pass. I loop it over my neck. “Please go through the glass gates when they open,” he says. “Take the end elevator to the twenty-first floor.”

I lift a brow at Theo. He shrugs. He doesn’t look like a worried man, so I’m hoping this isn’t about his father being arrested and him being implicated. Maybe he just needs me to sign an NDA about the party.

Not that I’m planning on talking to anybody about that evening from hell.

Five minutes later, we’re being shown into an executive boardroom. It looks out over the river, the reflection of the sun sparkling against the surface. Daniel sits on one of the upholstered leather seats, and Theo pulls one out for me. As I sit down, he sits next to me.

“Okay, why are we here?” I whisper.

Before he can answer the door opens and a fifty-something woman sweeps in, flanked by two men in suits.

My breath catches as I recognize her immediately. Laura Salisbury. Publisher for The North Atlantic Monthly. She’s a legend in the business. Climbed the career ladder when it was at its most slippery, paving the way for women like me.

We all stand and she shakes our hands, and the men in suits follow. Daniel murmurs to one of them who nods.

“Please sit,” Laura says, gesturing at our chairs.

So we do.

Theo settles beside me. He’s so calm and I don’t understand it. Doesn’t he know who Laura is?

“Georgia,” Laura murmurs to me, steepling her fingers beneath her chin. “Thank you for coming in.”

“It’s a pleasure,” I manage to squeak. I don’t add that if I knew she was going to be here I might have thrown up on the way.

“We have a proposal for you,” she tells me.

My pulse ticks up. “What kind of proposal?” I ask.

“Mr. Hunt approached us with a rather interesting offer,” Laura says. I glance at Theo, who shrugs. “He and his legal team have requested we host a full investigative interview,” she continues. “I assume you know about his father’s arrest. And the allegations.”

“I do,” I say. Theo nudges his shoe against mine. I nudge back.

“Obviously, it’s the kind of investigation we’re known for. And while Mr. Hunt is willing for us to have the exclusive, he’s requested full approval of the journalist. And he’s asked for you.”

Silence spreads across the table. I look from Laura to Daniel to Theo, trying to process what she just said.

“He wants me to do it,” I repeat slowly. “And you?”